Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Sunny Flora.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Sunny Floraxe2x80x99.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Odense, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact Osteospermums with continuous flowering, good postproduction longevity and attractive flower coloration.
The new Osteospermum originated from a self-pollination made by the Inventor in 2001 of the Osteospermum ecklonis cultivar Sunny Alex, not patented.
The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the resulting progeny from the self-pollination in a controlled environment in Odense, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by terminal vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Odense, Denmark. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Sunny Flora has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sunny Floraxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sunny Floraxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Osteospermum: 
1. Compact, upright and mounded plant habit.
2. Dense and bushy growth habit.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Large inflorescences.
5. Red purple-colored ray florets and dark purple-tipped disc florets.
Compared to plants of the parent, the cultivar Sunny Alex, plants of the new Osteospermum are more compact, have lighter green-colored leaves, and have shorter and stronger peduncles.
Plants of the new Osteospermum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,353. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fyn, Denmark, plants of the new Osteospermum differed from plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Osteospermum were more compact and denser than plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady.
2. Plants of the new Osteospermum were more upright and not as outwardly spreading as plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady.
3. Plants of the new Osteospermum had lighter green-colored foliage than plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady.
4. Plants of the new Osteospermum and the cultivar Sunny Lady differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady had lighter-colored ray florets.
5. Plants of the new Osteospermum had longer and sturdier peduncles than plants of the cultivar Sunny Lady.